Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre, now in the black, looks forward to its new season

John McCusker / The Times-PicayuneGary Solomon Jr.

When Gary Solomon Jr. took over as managing director of the financially troubled Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre in March 2009, some thought he might have been a bit green. But Solomon, then 22, already had a decade’s experience in the entertainment business.

Solomon says that when he was about 12 years old, a concerned customer called child labor authorities when she spotted him working in the box office at the Elmwood Palace 20 theater — then owned by his grandfather. But for Solomon, then as now, the entertainment business was a labor of love.

“Somebody else played football,” Solomon said, “I manned the box office. It was my choice to do it.”

Now, as his first season as director of the 94-year-old French Quarter showplace winds down with “The Wedding Singer,” which runs through July 25, the theater is on stable financial footing, according to tax records and theater board members.

When Solomon took the reins 15 months ago, it seemed possible that the curtain would come down permanently on the venerable playhouse. Harry T. Widmann, Le Petit’s chairman of the board of governors at the time of the change-over, said the theater had been the victim of a perfect storm — figuratively and literally.

In 2004, Widmann explained, the theater undertook a monumental improvement, the construction of a million-dollar orchestra pit, which promised to enhance all future musical performances, but disrupted that year’s season. As construction neared completion in summer 2005, Hurricane Katrina battered the old theater on the edge of Jackson Square, causing a fair amount of roof damage, Widmann said.

Though the French Quarter was spared the flooding that crippled the rest of the city, Le Petit’s new orchestra pit took on water. The stage remained dark for almost a year thereafter, as $600,000 in insurance money was spent restoring the antique structure that the theater had occupied since 1922.

With the Crescent City’s population drastically diminished by the storm and flood, French Quarter tourist traffic at a historic low, a nationwide economic downturn taking hold, and an across-the-board tightening in government arts funding, the nonprofit theater, under the direction of Sonny Borey, had by 2009 lost the struggle to make ends meet.

Le Petit’s income tax exemption form for the year ending June 30, 2008, reveals a budget deficit of $266,000.

Something had to be done.

“It was a runaway train,” said actor and Le Petit board member Bryan Batt. “We had to stop it … When banks say they’re going to foreclose, it’s not a good sign.” The board’s first duty was to protect the venerable theater, which Batt said he feared could have been carved up into condominiums. So they took dramatic action, firing Le Petit’s five-member staff.

Steven Forster / The Times-PicayuneGary Solomon Jr. and Bryan Batt

Current board Chairman Christopher J. Bruno, who was a board member at the time and is a Civil District Court judge, said that though the quality of Le Petit productions had remained steady, the board had allowed business matters to languish. Firing the staff, he said, “was one of the hardest decisions the board had ever made. It was purely economic. … Anytime you let somebody go, it’s troubling. But we were in danger of closing.”

But who then would run the institution? The board announced it would be one of its own members, recent college graduate Gary Solomon.

Solomon descends from an entertainment empire. His great-grandfather was a Lebanese immigrant, Solomon said, who established the family business back in McComb, Miss., during the Great Depression, when he used half of his dry goods store to show movies. In the following years, the movie business mushroomed. At one time, Solomon said, his family owned almost 300 cinemas across the region.

Stage lighting was Solomon’s specialty when he studied theater design and production at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and New York University. He began a career as a producer in the Big Apple, while attending NYU. During that period, he became acquainted with Batt, when he assisted his fellow New Orleanian on a musical series called “Broadway by the Year.”

In spring 2008, Solomon earned his bachelor of fine arts degree in theater and headed back to New Orleans to take a job presenting corporate events with a local production firm. He quit a few months later to strike out on his own, forming Solomon Group Entertainment, a sports/theater/entertainment/video production company. The moment he resettled in the Crescent City, his friend Batt suggested he join the board of the faltering Le Petit.

Solomon said that he and the Solomon Group staff took on the task of analyzing the theater’s economic woes. The news wasn’t good.

“As a business person, what do you do when your expenses outweigh income? You close shop. But that wasn’t an option,” Solomon said.

As an interim step, the board decided to gamble on Solomon’s precocious expertise, youthful energy and New York connections to reinvigorate the old playhouse. Solomon said he offered his production company’s services at no charge for six months, giving the board the breathing room needed to consider management options. He resigned his seat on the board and took the helm of Le Petit.

She’s hopeful that under Solomon’s guidance Le Petit might become known for presenting fresher Broadway fare as well as the tried-and-true Broadway musicals for which Le Petit long has been known.

“Just by virtue of Gary’s age, he’s grown up watching a different kind of show. I think that’s good.”

Solomon said Le Petit seemed a lot bigger when he was a kid attending shows there. Like generations of New Orleans theater folk before him, Solomon first learned stagecraft at Le Petit.

“I had grown up working backstage in that theater,” Solomon said. “I probably first worked there in high school. … I was actually the dresser for the woman playing Dolly Levi.”

He said he had last worked at Le Petit when he flew in from New York in 2006 to design the lighting for “The Full Monty.” He said he was happy to have a role in the theater’s recovery.

“I was thrilled,” Solomon said. “If it had gone under on my generation’s watch, it would have been a crime.” Like selling tickets at his grandfather’s movie house, Solomon said, managing Le Petit was more a calling than a job. “You had to love it.”

The revelation of Le Petit’s financial crisis and change in management swiftly was followed by a series of successful emergency fundraising events orchestrated by Solomon and the board. Board members, Bruno said, also wrote personal checks to help balance the books. Solomon said he was especially gratified by the stack of small checks, some no more than $5, that arrived by mail, showing just “how many people at every economic level loved this theater.”

Bruno said the bank that holds Le Petit’s $700,000 mortgage also helped by being patient with the ailing arts institution.

The Historic New Orleans Collection, a French Quarter history museum, came to the rescue by giving Le Petit $64,000, enough to cover a year’s mortgage payments, in exchange for the use of Le Petit to show a series of historic films. The Le Petit board donated the theater’s archive of records and memorabilia to THNOC.

“I’m a big fan of Gary,” THNOC director Priscilla Lawrence said. “We were delighted to work something out that would allow us to help out Le Petit and still fulfill our mission.”

Solomon also updated the theater’s mailing list and instituted Le Petit’s first online ticket service, which has led to season subscriptions more than doubling to roughly 900, Solomon said.

Aimee Hayes, artistic director of the nonprofit Southern Rep theater, said Le Petit was not alone in its financial troubles. Nonprofit theaters across the country were feeling the pinch as funding sources dried up in the 2007 economic downturn. The outpouring of financial support that saved Le Petit, Hayes said, can be traced at least in part to New Orleans’ craving for continuity.

“In New Orleans, we keep the past close, keep our history alive. It’s part of every day here — the old architecture, the food. We’re honor-bound to maintain traditions.”
Everyone has a memory of the little theater, Hayes said. She fondly recalls her moments in the Le Petit spotlight when she was in her early 20s.

“You feel the history, the hard work that’s come before,” she said.

Southern Rep and Le Petit collaborated on a production of the musical “Grey Gardens” in May, which Hayes believes took advantage of the strengths of both institutions.

“It’s necessary for our survival that we share resources,” Hayes said of cooperation among local theatrical institutions.

Solomon managed the theater without pay for two months longer than intended. In October, the Le Petit board hired the Solomon Group, with its seven-member staff, for $10,000 a month.

“We structured this fee monthly so it wasn’t going to tank the theater,” Solomon said. “My goal is to cover out-of-pocket expenses.”

Solomon was busy outside of Le Petit as well. In addition to working on projects for a list of corporate clients, the Solomon Group produced “Let Freedom Swing!” the signature show at the Stage Door Canteen theater, part of the National World War II Museum. Solomon said that the project ramped up at roughly the same time his company assumed directorship of Le Petit.

“We had theater coming at us from all directions,” he said.

The popular August 2009 test run of “White Noise,” a controversial musical that debuted at Le Petit before the producers attempted a Broadway stand, drew 6,000 customers during its three-week run. The show, Solomon said, is still in development and has not yet reached the Great White Way.

From the beginning, Solomon said, he realized that even during the best of seasons, a small theater such as Le Petit, with a mere 375 seats, can’t support itself on the ticket sales from just a few productions. He’s done his best to open the doors as often as possible.

During the past year, the main stage was the site of the sort of musicals that Le Petit audiences have come to expect, such as “White Christmas,” “Aida” and “Damn Yankees.” But Solomon also booked more surprising shows such as a solo concert by roots rocker Theresa Andersson, a flamenco dance troupe and a live comedy TV pilot. Solomon estimates that under his stewardship, the number of Le Petit performances has risen from 130 in 2008 to more than 250 in 2009-10. In addition, the theater has hosted weddings, corporate events and other revenue-generating rentals.

Tonight, “Celebrity Autobiography,” featuring a star-studded cast that includes Batt, Mario Cantone, Jennifer Coolidge, John Goodman, Ryan Reynolds and Jay Thomas, will be staged, with a portion of ticket sales going to the Greater New Orleans Foundation’s Gulf Coast Oil Spill Fund.

“The mantra was: The theater must absolutely not be dark,” Solomon said.

Jim Fitzmorris, artistic director of the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival at Tulane University, said that from an outsider’s point of view, Le Petit historically suffered from an identity crisis as it walked the line between amateur presentations and more serious professional productions. Over the years, he said, the nonprofit theater experienced a cycle of financial scrapes.

The perennial rallying cry, Fitzmorris said was: “The theater is dying; long live the theater.”

Fitzmorris said it’s imperative that the splendid old French Quarter playhouse remain open, if for no other reason than to host the annual Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival.

He’s hopeful that the Solomon Group will bring solvency.

“The new management seems to be committed to noncrisis management. Theatrical institutions have to be run as financial entities. … It seems that under the new management there’s some attempt to get a new workable system in place.”

Bruno, who describes himself as a natural worrier, said there still is cause for concern. The monthly mortgage of $4,900 must always be met. But the picture is much more promising than it was in March 2009, when Solomon took control. Three full-time and two part-time Le Petit staff members have been hired, the little theater’s tax report ending in June 2009 shows a surplus of $2,446, and the leaky roof has been replaced.

“I’m very proud that we do not have rain inside the theater,” Solomon said.
Ideally, the theater eventually will hire an artistic director, “someone that either has a very focused sense of artistry, or someone who brings an incredibly wild creative sensibility to it,” Solomon said.

In the mean time, he’s announced the 2010-11 season, which will include “Hairspray,” “Soul Doctor,” a return of “White Christmas,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Evita” and “High School Musical.”

Best of all, from Solomon’s point of view, is the reinstatement of Le Petit’s fondly remembered children’s theater series that ended some years back.

“One of the things that I said absolutely has to happen this year is The Children’s Corner. That’s the place a lot of those $5 checks came from.”
LE PETIT THEATRE’S 95th SEASON
Tickets are on sale now for the theater’s 95th season through the website lepetittheatre.com. Shows generally run for three weekends, Thursdays through Sundays. Opening nights are as follows: “Hairspray,” Sept. 17; “Soul Doctor,” Nov. 9; “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas,” Dec. 10; “Frost/Nixon,” Jan. 28; “The Drowsy Chaperone,” April 7; “Evita,” June 10; and “Disney’s High School Musical,” July 14.

THE WEDDING SINGERWhat: This tale of a brokenhearted singer stuck in a dead-end life until he meets the girl of his dreams closes out the theater’s 2009-10 season. The Broadway musical, based on the Adam Sandler-Drew Barrymore film, celebrates the music and fashion of the 1980s.Where: Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre, 616 St. Peter St., 504.522.2081.When: Performances Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m., through July 25.
Tickets: $23-$60.
CELEBRITY AUTOBIOGRAPHY What: Comedians and actors, including Bryan Batt, Mario Cantone, Jennifer Coolidge, John Goodman, Ryan Reynolds and Jay Thomas as well as Eugene Pack and Dayle Reyfel, who developed the show, read selections of the witless wisdom from autobiographies of the famous and infamous. A portion of ticket sales will be donated to the Greater New Orleans Foundation’s Gulf Coast Oil Spill Fund. When: Today at 7 and 9 p.m., with a cast party following the 9 p.m. performance.Where: Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre, 616 St. Peter St., 504.522.2081. Tickets: $69 and $99. Cast party, $60. Available at lepetittheatre.com.